Julene Stassou - The Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Solution: The 28-Day Kickstart Plan for Lasting Weight Loss

Copyright 2017 by Julene Stassou

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Photography Grinvalds/Shutterstock.com, Chris Marksbury

ISBN: Print 978-1-62315-940-5

eBook: 978-1-62315-941-2

This book is dedicated to my wonderful
children, Ella Juliet and Jake Theodore,
and to my mother, Rhea, and yiayia,
Julia, for teaching me how to cook and
making everything taste so good.

W orking as a gastroenterologist in a busy private practice in Bergen County, New Jersey, I encounter many different ailments and afflictions associated with this specialty of medicine. Whether treating ulcers and heartburn or performing a colonoscopy to screen for cancer, we in this field are accustomed to treating a wide array of intestinal disorders. Among the more common challenges we face on a daily basis are obesity and ensuring our patients have a good diet and proper nutrition. This is not an easy task for a doctor when patient-doctor time is already limited and there are numerous medical factors that influence nutrition and a plethora of diet plans to consider. As physicians, we often fall short in educating our patients on the merits of a good diet and why they should lose weight. We simply dont have the time or the resources.

So we, as a medical practice, turned to Julene Stassoua registered dietitian with a masters degree in nutrition education. For the past few years she has been working with some of our patients and setting them on the correct path. She doesnt do this simply by handing them a piece of paper with a diet and dismissing them. Instead, she sits down with them, educates them, and formulates a diet plan tailored to each patients needs. In essence, she becomes their nutritional coach. With The Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Solution, Julene has synthesized this approach into a simple yet actionable plan that so many of us, swept up in the chaos of everyday life, can on our own put to good use to lose weight and improve health. Unlike so many of todays fad diets, which are impractical in the long term and often unpleasant to endure in the short term, the Mediterranean diet that Julene brings you is not only easy to replicate and enjoyable to the palate, but also clearly and statistically associated with cardiovascular and medical benefits.

The Mediterranean diet is more than just a dietits a sustainable way of life. I saw this and experienced it even as a youth spending summers in Sicily with my family on the slopes of Mount Etna. Ive seen firsthand the positive effect this diet has on health and how it can help people thrive. We cant bring everyone to live in Italy or Greece, but Julene has found a way to bring that lifestyle to you in the comfort of your own home.

Mark S. Sapienza, MD

Chief of Gastroenterology at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey

I believe what we put into our bodies can serve as a primary determinant of how we function, feel, and look. Whether you eat to live or live to eat, you can nurture your body through food choices. Food isnt just fuel; its a means by which we can maintain our overall health and well-being. The countless vitamins and minerals in foods each have a purposethey facilitate efficient operation of our body.

As a registered dietitian, my primary role is that of a health care provider, but I also bring a culinary background and passion. This passion goes beyond wanting to be healthy. It is a deep desire to help people reach their goals. It brings me tremendous joy and satisfaction to see my patients succeed in whatever it is they came to me to achieve. I love this field and how I can make a difference for peopleand perhaps this love affair came from my upbringing.

Growing up in a large Greek family, I learned that everything centered on food. The smell of baking bread constantly filled the air. Our pantry staples included fresh fruits and vegetables, and olive oillots of it. As a child, I would get up early on Saturdays to cook my family breakfast, help my mother and yiayia (the Greek word for grandmother) cook traditional foods, and strive to make the perfect baklava. When I went off to college, it made total sense to major in food and restaurant management. I got a full-time job in hospital food service, an experience that quickly signaled to me that meals are not always prepared in the healthiest manner. The sodium, fat, and calorie counts were sorely excessive. With obesity levels in the country rising by epic proportions, and heart disease becoming the leading killer among Americans, I was alarmed. I knew I wanted to do moreto use my knowledge of food to help people get